Keep snapping drum sander paper!

[Michael Donahue]

What am I doing wrong? I have a Delta 18" open ended drum sander and I bought some 80 grit paper at Woodcraft (which works out to about $7.50 per piece--ouch!)

I'm trying to sand down a pine table top measuring roughly 6' long and 32" wide. I'm never taking more than a quarter turn when I raise the height and have the sander set to feed relatively slowly. From my rough glueup to now (where the top is just barely acceptable @ 80 grit), I've already snapped 2 pieces of paper right around the left clip that holds the paper in place. That's $15 just to get this thing reasonably flat!

I wrap the paper reasonably tight so it won't move around, take reasonably small passes, use dust collection, and sand off any really funky spots (glue drops, etc) by hand.

What am I doing wrong? Is there better paper out there? What if I reinforce the paper behind where it contacts the clips, maybe with duct tape or something?

I want to do a bit more sanding, but I only have one piece of paper left and that's like gold until I figure out what the heck is going on!

[Chris Padilla]

Well, I have the same drum sander and it worked great for sanding down walnut veneers...never had any tearing sandpaper issues.

However, at the most, I was sanding about 11" worth of wood...you are hitting the full 18"+. You may need to back off on the height mechanism even more. I always ran my veneers through TWICE before adjusting the table height although I did adjust the height a quarter turn (1/64").

I'm trying to remember but whenever I replaced sandpaper, I started on the right and went left. I'm not sure if you could wrap it going the other direction or not and I'm not sure if it matters but just in case, that was how I wrapped my paper around the drum: right to left (from open end to motor end), rotating the drum in its normal direction of operation as I wrapped.

How long is the paper lasting before it tears? Maybe you have some bad sandpaper?

Have you checked to make sure the drum and bed are parallel to each other? I read where when you want to sand the full width+, you are suppose to have the drum just a "hair" higher at the open end.

Finally, how about calling Delta technical help to see what they tell you.

Good luck!

[Doug Shepard]

I used to have that same problem occasionally on my Performax 16-32. If there's any slack at all in the wrap, it would break at startup at the clip end. It was doing a crack-the-whip type action and snapping at the end. Dont know how the clips on the Delta work but it sounds like the same problem. If I end up with any slack at all at the end, I just insert as far into the clip as I can then go backwards keeping tension on the drum as I go, then re-insert the other end further into that clip with the extra slack pulled tight.

[Mike Thomas]

Michael, I have a Performax 25" dual drum sander and have experienced some of what you are experiencing. I use the heck out of my sander and here is what I have found:

Initially set the drum high and feed the stock through slowly while slowly lowering the drum until it just contacts the piece.

From the initial setting before the first pass lower the drum 1/8 turn. Make your second pass. With the drum in the same possition rotate your stock 180 degrees and make your second pass. Before the next pass lower the drum another 1/8 turn and repeat the steps above. Continue this operation until you have achieved the results you want. My drum sander has two drums and probably will take twice as much off per pass as the sander you are using so take this into consideration.

Now, I know you are saying that this will take for ever, but these drum sanders are not thicknessers. You should be using this to sand something smooth/flat such as in a door glue-up.

I have experienced breakage of the sanding cloth when I use a cheeper brand such as Grizzly. But have never experienced it with Performax brand. It breaks exactly as you have discribed. This also usually happens when I get in too much of a hurry and try to take too much off at once. It took me a while to get used to how slowly these drum sanders remove material especially when using less that 100 grit paper.

Good luck and take your time it will work.

[Bruce Page]

When I had my Delta 18/36 I couldn’t get away with more than 1/8 of a turn on wide boards, even less with the finer grits. It would also sometimes tear the paper at the ends like that – mainly on the coarse grits. I wondered if the pre-cut rolls were sometimes short or if the paper shrunk. I would alway retighten the paper after the first few minutes.

[Michael Panis]

What am I doing wrong?

Remember that the paper stretches. Keep checking it to ensure it hasn't loosened.

---Mike

[george wilson]

I have the Delta also. Try 36 grit at first.Crank up the conveyor less for wide boards as suggested. I assume you are talking about the pre cut CLOTH strips,not paper? I wouldn't use paper.

[Rod Upfold]

I have a performax sander and I was ripping the paper...the paper would stretch and have some slack. Then I was taking abit too big of a bite and between the two - the paper would rip at one of the ends.


Rod

[george wilson]

Repeat: Are you using CLOTH strips? I would not use PAPER.

[Cary Falk]

I have had the Grizzly 18/36 for about a year now. The only time I have snapped the paper was when I was taking too much off with the paper that came with the sander. It actually broke in the center of the drum and not the edges. I have some very heavy duty cloth backed paper. My guess is it is either your sandpaper or you are taking too much off. I am actually leaning towards the paper because if you are taking too much off you would be tripping breakers or hearing the motor bog down a lot. This is what I buy>http://www.industrialabrasives.com/z...x&cPath=79_153. It is much better than what was on it when I bought it used.